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A Bay Area congressman is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to lift the ban preventing gay and bisexual men from donating blood. NBC Bay Area's Michelle Roberts reports. (Published Tuesday, July 8, 2014)

A Bay Area congressman is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to lift the ban preventing gay and bisexual men from donating blood.

Mike Honda (D-San Jose) started an online petition to try to get the FDA to overturn the ban. He says the ban is outdated, discriminatory and based on decades-old fears that have been discounted by science.

“The FDA should end the ban and revise its policy and focus on behavior and individual risk, and not on sexual orientation,” Honda said Monday.

After holding a news conference Monday afternoon, Honda was joined by other leaders - including Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and County Supervisor Dave Cortese - for a blood drive outside the county administration building on Hedding Street.

"FDA's deferral policy is based on the documented increased risk of certain transfusion transmissible infections, such as HIV, associated with male-to-male sex and is not based on any judgment concerning the donor's sexual orientation."

The American Red Cross and the America Medical Association support the proposal that would allow gay men to donate. The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia allow gay men to donate.